David McCormick, a Republican Senate candidate from Pennsylvania, is set to announce a proposal to relocate the Department of Energy's (DOE) headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The plan, which aims to bring federal officials closer to a significant energy-producing region, will be unveiled during a Tuesday afternoon meeting with Republican Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, according to a source familiar with the matter.
In his remarks, McCormick will draw on his two decades of private sector experience as a business leader, emphasizing the need for fundamental change. "I learned over more than 20 years in the private sector as a business leader that driving fundamental change requires taking on root causes, in this case three sources of the current stagnation in Washington: changing the culture in the capital, taking on an entrenched bureaucracy that resists change, and fixing misguided incentives," McCormick will say, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
In addition to the relocation proposal, McCormick will discuss other ideas for transforming the nation's capital, should he be elected in November. The DOE currently employs approximately 14,000 federal workers at its Washington headquarters and across its 83 field locations, as reported by Performance.gov.
Pennsylvania is a leading state in energy production, contributing about 20% of the country's total natural gas production in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The state's significance extends beyond energy, as it could play a pivotal role in the 2024 elections, potentially influencing the outcome of both the presidential election and the Senate race, which could determine party control of the chamber until 2026.
The race between McCormick and incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey is closely contested. Recent polls by the New York Times-Siena indicate that Casey holds a lead of between two and five percentage points. The Cook Political Report currently categorizes the Pennsylvania race as leaning Democrat.
The Biden administration's climate agenda, particularly its January decision to halt approvals for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, could potentially estrange blue-collar voters employed in the energy industry who have previously leaned Democratic, according to state and national pundits. Senator Casey has expressed opposition to the LNG ban if it results in job losses for Pennsylvanians.
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